Health Fair Strategy touching Community Lives!
The strategy to take specialized healthcare services to the grassroots population is paying off well for the beneficiaries. Hope and Healing International is sponsoring this activity via the CBC CBR program to organize health fairs in collaboration with local Councils and associated hospitals.
After Santa and Nkambe in the Northwest region, the health fair in Fundong hit a crescendo with a record of over 1000 people accessing specialized health services in four days. Originally planned for two days, the health fair in Fundong lasted four days from April 22-25 due to demand led by the Lord Mayor, Awoh Ndang who caused the Council to support the health fair with 350,000fcfa.
The specialized services came from Mbingo Baptist Hospital: physiotherapy, ear, nose and throat (ENT), mental health, eye and vital signs. Welcoming the medical team to Fundong, Mayor Awoh Ndang saluted the CBC Health Services through her indefatigable leader, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih for taking quality healthcare services to the people right in their communities, which are beneficial especially to persons with disabilities.
Prior to the health fair in each locality, officials of the local Council, the district hospital and CBR field workers work in synergy to sensitize the population in churches, markets, schools, ‘njangi’ houses and wherever people congregate to make it a duty to attend the health fair and take advantage of the specialized services.
In one of the health talks before the commencement of consultation in Fundong, CBCHS Mental Health Supervisor, Frankline Ngwen outline some rapid assessment, which mental health clients should look out for. The indicators include:
1) Sleep problems (poor, too much, or nightmares)
2) Overthinking, Excessive forgetfulness/poor concentration
3) Headaches including nerves pains
4) Concerns with palpitations and fears
5) Hearing or seeing things others are not seeing or behaving irrationally.
The mental health supervisor said, asking for these symptoms or getting these complaints from the patients can easily cause you to refer them to mental health.
So far, the health fairs have held in Santchou, Massangam, Manguiembou, Malantoen and Mbouda in the West region and Nkambe, Santa and Fundong in the Northwest region.